Hofer’s Path to the Blues’ No. 1 Job Starts Getting Real

Every organization talks about goaltending depth until the moment it has to pick a real answer, and the Blues are getting closer to that decision point. Joel Hofer’s rise toward the starting spot is being dissected for a reason, because teams do not casually hand over the crease in a league where one cold month can wreck a season. The next step for St. Louis is figuring out whether Hofer is the bridge or the guy they can actually build around.